Trafford Publishing: Operation Aviary: Airborne Special Operations-Korea, 1950-1953

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Operation Aviary: Airborne Special Operations-Korea, 1950-1953

by Colonel Douglas C. Dillard

146 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0602; ISBN 1-55369-789-8; US$20.00, C$30.60, EUR19.90, £13.80

A firsthand account of secret operations during the Korean War. Operation Aviary consisted of a series of airborne special operations conducted by US and Korean partisans behind the lines.

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About the Book

Endorsement by Nels Running, Major General, USAF (Ret)
Executive Director, Department of Defence

Korean War Commemoration Committee

The history of the Korean War remains unknown to far too many who owe gratitude to those whose courage, commitment and sacrifices secured a victory for freedom and democracy over communist aggression. Even deeper in the shadows of the unknown, lay the clandestine operations of 'special' forces, whose actions often serve to enhance the conventional forces' opportunities for success in combat operations. Cloaked in "special secrecy" at the time, the stories of special operations emerge from the shadows much later than conventional combat histories.

In this work, Colonel Doug Dillard illuminates an important arena of operations heretofore largely ignored: airborne special operations. Special operations teams and individuals, sometimes supported by or in conjunction with 'available' conventional resources, made daring airborne penetrations of the enemy 's rear areas and areas of current combat operations to disrupt or defeat the enemy's operations. They gathered and reported critical elements of information regarding enemy dispositions and capabilities to the conventional forces. The men of "Operation AVIARY" were indeed force multipliers whose actions contributed immeasurably to the United Nations Command's victory over communist aggression. A FASCINATING READ!

About the Author

Colonel Dillard enlisted at Fort McPherson, Georgia July 3, 1942, at the age of 16. Recruit training done at Camp Walters, Texas, then the Parachute Schoool at Fort Benning, Georgia, Class Number 29, November, 1942. Colonel Dillared retired 30 September 1977 after serving thirty-five years on active duty.

Enlisted service in regular units began with duty as a charter member of Company A, 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion in the Republic of Panama and ended with the inactivation of the Battalion in Belgium in January 1945. Service with the Battalion was as a Rifleman, Squad leader, 60 MM Mortar Squad and ommunications Sergeant. Additional enlisted service was as Platoon Sergeant and 1st Sergeant, "C" Company, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Ist sergeant, "F" Company, 504th Parachute InfantryrRgiment and Sergeant Major 108th Airbone Infantry Division.

Warrant service began with an appointment as WOJG, Unit Administrator, HQ & HQ Company, 82d Airborne Divisions 1948-1950.

Commissioned service began with a direct appointment as 2d Lieutenant, Infantry and assignment to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment as Regimental Counter-fire Officer, Executive officer, Hq & Hq Company and finally as Regimental Motor Officer, 1950-1951.

In November, 1951 orders reassigned Col. Dillard to the 8240th Army Unit in Korea as Partisan Unit Intelligence Officer, Commander Airdrop Agent/Guerrilla Team and Line crosser team withe Ist Marine Division. Upon completion of the Korean combat tour was reassigned as S-3, Georgia Military District, Atlanta, GA.

In March, 1955, Colonel Dillard entered the US Army Career Intelligence Program and had subsequent Intelligence assignments as follows, Instructor, Army Intelligence School, Fort Holabird, 1955 attendance at the Army Language School, Monterey, CA, 1956-1960 Special Agent and Team Chief, Czech Collection Team, Munich, Germany. Reassigned to the Collection Division, G-2, US. Army, Europe 1963. 1965 Assigned Operations Officer, 513th MI Group, Berlin, Germany. 1965-1968 assigned as Executive Officer, Continental Army Command Intelligence Center, Commander, 14th MI Battalion (Fld Army) and Commander, 48th MI Group. Reassigned to Vietnam Dec. 1968 as Phoenix Coordinator, IV Corp, MACV. Can tho.

Upon return to the United States was assigned as Director of Security, OJCS 1969 to 1970, while there was selected to attend the Army War College and promotion to Colonel.

Upon graduation from the Army War College was assigned as Chief, Military Intelligence Branch from 1971-1973, then reassigned as Commander, 500th MI Group, Hawaii. Reassigned January 1975 as Assistant Deputy Director, HUMINT, DIA. In September 1977 retired from active duty. Inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame, 1990.

Colonel is married to Virginia Hornsby Dillard also from Atlanta GA and has four daughters, Cynthia Ann Alley, Douglas Lynne Jasen, Cheryl Robin Staurulakis and Michelle Paula Resnick. The family has since grown with nine grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Upon retirement Colonel Dillard became involved in Real Estate Management and finished his second career as Vice President and Regional Director, Northeastern United States for Insignia Financial Corporation.

Since retirement and while engaged in the Real Estate Industry, Colonel Dillard has actively counseled and aided other retired military personnel seeking post-retirement employment as well as encouraging such personnel to actively participate in their Military Unit Association and other Fraternal Associations that actively support the US Armed Forces. Presently , Colonel Dillard has activated and serves as Chariman, 50th Anniversary of the Korean War, 8240th Army Unit, Combined Command for Reconnaissance Activities, Korea, Commeomorative Committee. Joined the K.L.O. 8240th Army Unit, Korean War Veterans Association, USA as member of its Advisory Council and the War Veterans Association, 8240 Army Units, Partisan Forces, Seoul, Korea and the White Tigers Veterans Association, Inchon, Korea.

Sample Excerpts or Table of Contents

PREFACE

Ever since I completed my combat tour in Korea in 1952 I have been interested in writing a history of the clandestine airborne operations, especially since I was part of it. However, upon entering the Army Intelligence Corps, I became deeply engaged with classified activities in Europe and naturally avoided revealing even my involvement in such activity during the Korean War knowing these activities were still classified. After organizing the 8240th Army Unit, 50th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemorative Community in September 2000 and now knowing the secret classifications had been removed, my interest in the subject resurfaced. My feelings were that this unusual activity needed more research and a record made of the heroic efforts of the North Korean anti-Communists is made known to the American public. On the other hand, the courageous acts of the US and British personnel also need to be given the recognition they are certainly due. This book details for the first time the firsthand experiences of mine and the personal histories of other veterans who conducted Airborne Special Operations behind the enemy lines. Their stories are fascinating and would be great movie material.

As I began to research the topic, I discovered that many of our US veterans, upon reassignment to the United States, became members of the Special Forces. Most of these were enlisted men and they served in Special Forces for the remainder of their active duty. Many participated in combat operations such as The Dominican Republic, repeated tours in Vietnam, Operations in Panama, Grenada and finally Desert Storm before retirement. This was an unusually devoted, professional group of soldiers who have never received appropriate recognition for their combat service during the Korean War. In my quest to locate these veterans I had a great opportunity to talk with many of them regarding their Korean combat experiences, especially five AVIARY veterans who served with me in 1952. As my research began I found that many of the descriptions in this article were based on my firsthand knowledge and reinforced by discussions with the AVIARY veterans with whom I either visited or met during the only reunion held in October, 2000, in Panama City Beach, Florida. My trip to Korea earlier that same month also provided information I gathered by discussions with a few of the 350 Korean partisans who attended a luncheon for me. I met again the Donkey 15 leader who was on that bare rocky island when I made the resupply drop in 1952.

I need to recognize the outstanding research efforts of the authors of the fine books that I have referred to in this text and who made a great contribution to the recorded history of the clandestine warfare that was conducted during the Korean War. I want to acknowledge Ed Evenhoe and his book, DARK MOON, Colonel Ben Malcom and his book, WHITE TIGERS, MY SECRET WAR IN NORTH KOREA, and Colonel Mike Haas and his book, IN THE DEVIL'S SHADOW. To them I say thanks for the recorded memories!

I trust my contribution will be regarded as a worthy effort to document details on the specific topic of clandestine airborne operations during the Korean War, their successes, and their failures that influenced the loss of both US, British and patriotic North Korean anti-Communists. All was done in the pursuit of defending the people of the Republic of South Korea from communist domination.

At this time over fifty years since the end of the Korean War, we have just experienced similar special operations by Special Forces in Afghanistan who carried out almost exactly the same type clandestine airborne operations as covered in this book. Captain Amerine, the Special Forces Commander of the initial Special Forces personnel in Afghanistan, conducted their operation in the same manner as Ranger Sergeant Miles did in 1951 in North Korea. Miles destroyed most of a Chinese Communist Volunteer Army Division with his directed airstrikes using a simple Army radio, where Captain Amerine's troopers utilized state of the art computers, global positioning devices, and radically improved radio equipment.

The results were the same, the destruction of enemy forces. This book details such cases including some tragic losses. The uniqueness of this book is the fact that it reflects the first hand experiences of mine as well as the personal histories of other AVIARY veterans who flew on these dangerous missions, most for an entire year. The book provides details on special operations during the Korean War that are still not generally known. Agent and partisan activity behind enemy lines is movie material. The combined use of American, British, both South and North Koreans and Chinese volunteers in behind the lines combat is unique in itself. The details fill in the missing elements on clandestine airborne operations that other articles and books do not address. I believe the final chapter of the US Army's use of Homing Pigeons by my unit in Korea is not only an interesting story but also historical in perspective for the US Army. Generally, the scene is set, as to conditions present that influence the political leaders to make decisions that lead to significant actions, and quite often to hostilities between countries.

My book is set in a wartime period, the Korean War, and the clandestine airborne operations that were conducted. Of course, if one studies the terrain on the Peninsula of Korea, especially the northern portion, it is easy to see the terrain's influence on operations by planners and operational staffs in both BAKER SECTION and AVIARY, the two operational elements that conducted the airborne missions.

From the planner's standpoint, the mountainous terrain offered potentially good sustaining bases for the partisan, while the airborne planners looked for small, reasonably secure drop zones in these mountainous areas. Additionally, both coasts of North Korea also offered a chance for the air dropped team to exfiltrate and be picked-up by off-shore boats that were standing by for their recovery. The other more difficult escape alternative was land exfiltration through both enemy and friendly lines where many agents were inadvertently killed or wounded by friendly forces. The resort to clandestine airborne missions, against targets that were accessible by this method deep inside North Korea, resulted in a great loss of personnel.

A few words need to be devoted to the US personnel who participated in these operations. Some lost their lives, some were critically wounded and disabled for life, some became prisoners of war, while the remainder finished their military careers and also fought several times again before retiring. These men are heroes and deserve great praise for their service that was so closely held as secret until the past few years.

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